US Hate Campaigns Against Muslims and Arabs Show Results
Evidence that the hate bloggers and activists are having an impact among conservatives and the elderly.
A new JZ Analytics poll reveals that Arabs, Muslims, Arab Americans and American Muslims have the highest overall unfavourable ratings of all the ethnic and religious groups covered in the survey. The poll, conducted for the Arab American Institute, found that while more than seven in 10 US voters had favourable attitudes toward the main Protestant denominations, Catholics and Jews, less than five in 10 were positively inclined towards Arabs, Muslims, Arab Americans and American Muslims. In fact, Muslims were the only religious group to receive a net unfavourable rating, with a score of 40 per cent favourable to 41 per cent unfavourable.
Underlying these ratings is a deep partisan divide regarding attitudes of voters toward Arabs and Muslims. For example, Americans who say they intend to vote for President Barack Obama give Arabs a 51 per cent favourable / 29 per cent unfavourable rating, and Muslims a 53 per cent / 29 per cent rating. Those who say they will vote for Mitt Romney give Arabs and Muslims ratings of 30 per cent / 50 per cent and 25 per cent / 57 per cent respectively.
On closer examination, this partisan divide is grounded in a generational and racial divide. Younger voters from the ages of 18 to 29 give Arabs and Muslims 50 per cent / 34 per cent favourable / unfavourable rating and Muslims a 53 / 34 rating. On the other hand, older voters over 65 give Arabs and Muslims much lower 26 / 39 and 30 / 48 ratings, respectively